Reynard

I don't go to bed. I do the night shift for the cricket, its only for a couple of months and two of the tests are over the christmas /new year period anyway. Every ball! I sat up watching it pish down in NZ for the first test there this winter. That is actually fucking ridiculous, but I did it.

As for two spinners? Maybe when they didn't cover wickets it was a good idea but most teams struggle to get one decent spinner never mind two of the fuckers. A genuine all rounder that bowls good spinas well as being a good batsman would be ideal, but there arent any.

Feel a bit sorry for Tremlett, he should be in the good years of his bowling but he has been out a long long time. Plus at 31/2 compared to Finn who is just 24 you can see why they might persist with Finn a bit longer. He IS a strike bowler, who will go for runs, but he takes wickets too.

I'm probably going to be ignoring the football completely while this series is going on, then there is the utter bliss of the return series. I fucking love lighting the fire and sitting in front of it watching the cricket at ridiculous hours of the night. Cricket has always been my favourite sport by a mile. And by cricket, I mean test match cricket. If it wasnt for the cricket and tennis coverage, sky sports would have been binned years ago.

He needs to be playing in these games, they either decide he is to be persevered with or you bin him. Statistically, he is good. He is a decent new ball bowler and he does get wickets. But yeah, he doesnt seem able to churn it out when the conditions dont suit. That doesnt mean Id turn to Onions or Bresnan, both of whom are getting better and better the longer they are out the side...

It will be their batting that lets them down by the look of it. Their bowling unit looked fairly promising for a bunch of kids really. They already showed they can take 20 wickets on a pitch designed not to be helping them specifically.

Yeah Tremlett was looking a decent threat in the Ashes series in Australia where the wickets are faster and bouncier. I think even he would have struggle to do anything on that featherbed. I think Finn is better than just being labelled a poor mans Tremlett to be honest. And lets face it, he had a hat trick ball in the first innings He actually reminds me a bit of Bob Willis on the days when his timing wasn't good. It can look clunky and horrible, but he is only 24, he does get wickets and on a surface with a bit of pace and bounce he is a major threat. I think that he suffers a bit because he really doesn't get movement through the air, its all off the wicket and nobody on either side was getting any movement on that. I dont think the likes of Onions or Bresnan are better than him. Tremlett might be, but it will be a test or two maybe before he comes back, I dont think they will want to rush him either as there is a lot of cricket these days and if you get a fast bowler that begins to break down it can be career ending if its not handled right.

Bairstow is a one day player as far as Im concerned. Its a fairly difficult test match to make a judgement on players though, the wicket was a b*****d to score on once the ball got worn, and the bowlers got nothing off the pitch at all, no pace, no bounce, no movement.

Root reminds me a bit of Derek Randall. Not in his batting style or anything, just his face mostly.

Same here, he did OK with the bat this time and his bowling wasn't too bad on a flat slow pitch. I no longer slate him as every single time I have lashed out at him in frustration at being shite he goes on a match winning rampage. Its worth remembering that the likes of Finn and Broad are not swing bowlers like Anderson so the help through the air wasn't going to be much help to them. I think Finn will play at Lords, it will be quicker and it will be bouncier which will suit him.

Swann is always shit at Trent Bridge, he will be decent the rest of the series. As you say, the other guys can turn their arm over for a few overs no problem, the main worry is Finns form especially with only a few days to work on him and more importantly , his confidence.

Finn should be persevered with, he is young for a fast bowler and he is one of those guys that needs nurtured, England cant afford to f**k up his career. He has 98 test wickets and a better average and strike rate than Jimmy Anderson believe it or not. He needs to be well captained in tests like he has just done, and that spell when he was being howked around wont help matters, but Lords will be a bit quicker and he might get a bit of extra bounce. A brilliant test match all the same. It is just a sport like no other for building up sustained tension. Five days and something was going on constantly, the game went right to the wire, the only bit that didn't was the time factor, but it was a superb start to the series. I expect England to win fairly well in England now, but that match was in the balance, mainly thanks to the normal first match first innings batting debacle from England. f**k knows what happens to them in the first innings of test series but it happens often enough now to be a bit of a concern surely.

Hopefully

England will win this now, over 300 to get on that wicket, with Jimmy reversing and Swann ripping it? A huge ask for the Aussies under pressure of time and the situation. If they can extricate themselves from that then fair play, but I dont see it. England need to bat as long as they can here and spock as many runs as they can get. Loved the way Broad walked when he got out there.

Nope.

Unwritten and unpractised. Certain instances they will be all fair play and handshakes. Other times they don't. Its quite like football that way.

Yep, one Aussie walked. Ever. Bairstow walked, Root walked. Broad didn't. Too bad.

Glenn McGrath is on TMS. I wouldn't be walking for anything after the DRS f**k ups. Warne is in Vegas, must have been in a poker game as he had f**k all clue what was going on according to his tweets.

f**k them. Australians never walk for anything. Hopefully this introduces some proper nastiness into the proceedings. Anyway, England have batted themselves into a good position now, if they can hang around another session or two they should be well over three hundred ahead and they should win. I thought Bell played one of his best innings out there today and he absolutely needed an innings like that. Broad is a fanny, but he is right not to walk, its up to the umpire to make the decision.

Both those guys need runs and are under a bit of pressure. Especially Bell, who has done f**k all since the series against Pakistan. Bairstow looks like a one day hacker to me anytime I have seen him, he really needs to try and put a decent innings together here. No idea what is a good score on this wicket, it looks like it should have some runs in it, but the swing is doing in most of the batsmen and at least making them nervy. I reckon England will need to get around a 250 lead to be properly in the test, anything less is surely gettable for Australia. I just hope we get another couple of days out this game as it has been fantastic stuff so far.

What a test so far. Can't believe all this has happened in only two days The morning session is crucial to the game you feel. If England can get through without much going wrong they should have a platform to build a score, the wicket is doing nothing much, there has been swing and ta bit of spin, which will be more the case if the match lasts into the weekend but there isnt too much to worry batsmen other than swing. If England lose a couple of wickets early on then you have to fancy the Aussies to rip through. I was supposed to be going down on Saturday, but I declined as I have to be somewhere else. You wonder how much cricket there would have been anyway when you see how this has gone so far. Agars innings was incredible, but I did have a quiet smile when he didnt get his ton. And what the f**k happened with the review system? An umpire looking at a screen making a complete c**t of two major decisions? Not good enough. And I dont understand why Root didnt review his if he was in any doubt at all The stumping was borderline and you can see why the batsman got the benefit of the doubt. But Trotts?? What the f**k was that decision He nicked the thing. You could clearly see it, the on field umpire clearly saw AND heard it. Odd stuff. I cannot wait for the play today. Test cricket is the best game on the fucking planet, by miles.

Watched the whole thing twice now as I was a bit too tense to appreciate what was going on "live". But what a great match he played, he thoroughly deserved the win. He was outstanding right the way through.

Yep. His anti semitism is very apparent.

I always share that stuff. I'm glad he has gone and I hope the Jordanians are pulling his fingernails out as we speak.

who's that? Mhak?#fuckingribble